1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a method and a system for identifying optimal rewards programs. In particular, a method and a system are provided that can be used by payment card holders to select the best rewards programs based on their spend profile, or used by merchants or businesses to better target customers or enhance existing customer relationships.
2. Description of the Related Art
Rewards programs are becoming increasingly popular. Rewards are offered that aim to encourage or induce customer affiliation by rewarding all or select transactions. Rewards are typically based on any number of transaction particulars, such as spending levels, types of transaction, identity of merchant or vendor, location of transactions, or any other data or information that demonstrates user behavior. For example, a rewards program sponsor may provide incentives (e.g., rebates or discounts) on purchases made through a particular vendor or merchant. Rewards may also include cash-back deals where the customer earns a percentage of the transaction amounts as cash value that gets added to the customer's account.
In some cases, reward programs may be associated with a particular sponsor or merchant so that the customer can earn points that may be redeemed through the sponsor or merchant. For example, a rewards program sponsored by an airline may reward the customer with airline miles that may be redeemed for free or discounted travel. Likewise, some rewards programs may reward the customer with virtual cash to make purchases through select merchants and vendors.
Although conventional systems and methods enable rewards program sponsors to provide customers with a wide variety of reward earning opportunities, they nonetheless suffer from several notable drawbacks. For example, current systems and methods do not enable rewards program sponsors to identify and offer customers with relevant reward earnings on an ongoing basis. Existing systems and methods depend primarily on mass mailings and other like marketing techniques to generate interest in rewards program. Once a customer subscribes to a particular reward program, there is no known system or technique for ensuring that reward earnings/program remain relevant to the customer in the future, or for revising reward earnings/program should needs or circumstances change. As a result, many potential reward earning marketing opportunities go unrealized resulting in diminished value for reward programs in general.
Thus, what is needed is a system and/or a method that enables a rewards program sponsor to identify, recommend and, perhaps, offer to customers relevant reward earnings/programs based on customer particulars, such as demonstrated customer transaction history.